Jetrader - Winter 2017 - 36

Q&A

DAVID
SWAN

Chief Operating Officer,
SMBC Aviation Capital
Longtime ISTAT member and ISTAT Foundation Trustee
David Swan, COO, SMBC Aviation Capital, recently sat
down with Jetrader to look back at his history in the
industry while offering his view on the future of ISTAT
and the Foundation.

You have, what, 25 years of experience in aviation? What led you to
the industry, and what has kept you here?
Like many things in life, it was all about
timing and luck. I went to university here
in Ireland at Trinity College and then joined
KBC Bank which was a big lender to Guinness
Peat Aviation (GPA), one of the world's first
aircraft leasing companies. Just as I joined,
GPA's IPO failed and I ended up working on
the restructuring of the company's debts
along with a number of other restructurings
during those early years. It was around this
time that I got the bug. This is a global,
fast-paced and very exciting industry. In
my mid-20s, I was fortunate enough to go
to Hong Kong to help set up our aviation
and project finance business in Asia. I spent
five years there, which included witnessing
the historic hand-over of Hong Kong to
China in June 1997.
So why have I stayed in the industry?
It's an environment that's been constantly evolving over the past 25 years.
It's dynamic, it's global and once you join
you tend to stay. I've built a strong network
of colleagues and friends who've stayed in
the industry for many years.

What was the transition like for
you when RBS Aviation Capital - a
group you'd been with since its inception
in 2001  - was acquired by SMFG and
Sumitomo Corporation and the company
became what is now known as SMBC
Aviation Capital?
It was quite an experience. We were set
up in 2001 and grew to number three in
the industry very quickly, but RBS got into
problems following the acquisition of ABN
AMRO. We were seen as one of the jewels
in the crown in RBS, as a very profitable
global entity that wasn't really impacted by
the global financial crisis. Hence, we were
one of the first parts of RBS to be put up
for sale and we attracted a lot of interest
from around the world.
We celebrated the fifth anniversary
of our acquisition earlier this year. Now,
looking back, it was a challenging time,
though, being non-core within a bank and
being for sale. It was tough on our staff,
but we continued to trade profitably, and
I suppose you really get to know people
inside and outside your company in tough
times. But the transition itself has been
very smooth, sometimes you need to have

36 The official publication of the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading

some tough times to get perspective on
good owners - owners who want to invest
long term in the business.
We have had a strong five years of growth
and we have delivered beyond expectation
on what we promised as a management
team on the road shows during the sale
process. All of the financial and risk targets
have been either met or surpassed, but one
of the key factors for our shareholders has
been that all the senior team has stayed
with the company.
A big plus has also been the way we've
integrated with the other parts of the
shareholders businesses including our
debt-financing and tax-leasing colleagues
in SMFG and our engine-leasing colleagues
in Sumisho. So we've integrated well, with
the sum of all the parts being greater than
each individual piece which has been an
extra benefit for our shareholders.
As one of the top five leasing companies, we do big deals of scale, and
that's one of our strengths and one of
our key differentiators in this market.
We can do 10 to 20 aircraft deals with
airlines because we have long standing,
high level relationships with them and
Jetrader - Winter 2017

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